#uimomu

There's lots of excitement in the office as we get closer to finalizing this year's @uimobilemuseum exhibits! Our educators have been working all winter with research partners across @uiowa. The oak tree represents an ecosystem and habitat for #raptors and other creatures in the "Wild Iowa" exhibit developed with @recserv. The other fun creature is a #pangolin! A criticality endangered mammal from Africa and Asia. This interactive sculpture will help communicate facts and data about pangolins, displayed on a large screen. #iowa #uiowa #uimomu #museum #exhibits #habitat #EndangeredSpecies

Student Life at Iowa took some fantastic photos of the University of Iowa Mobile Museum, which showcases two exhibits co-created by OSA staff! Until you can see it in person, here's a great sneak peek of Oneota Archaeological Connections, Delving Deep: Scientific Discoveries from Iowa's Ancient Sea, and Speaking of Work: The Iowa Labor History Oral Project, from our campus launch last month.

Featured this week is one of the highlights of our upcoming University of Iowa Mobile Museum exhibit, "Oneota Archaeological Connections," set to debut in April! This small, complete Oneota bowl is from the Flatiron Terrace site in Allamakee County. According to Dale Henning's Masters thesis (1960), the Flatiron Terrace was the site of a gravel pit from 1943-1949 when the terrace was completely leveled. During the course of the gravel removal operations, village refuse was recovered from the site by collectors. This bowl is described as "atypical" for the Upper Iowa River valley. When this bowl was chosen for the exhibit, it was found that the nodes easily and comfortably fit as grips in the hands of a woman cupping the vessel. This is not to say that this is the actual purpose of the nodes - as archaeologists, we don't know for certain! But holding the bowl in this way does create a sturdy cradle.

The University of Iowa Mobile Museum is officially on the road with "Oneota Archaeological Connections"! Keep up with their Facebook for announcements about events or watch the event calendars at https://discover.research.uiowa.edu/ and http://archaeology.uiowa.edu. We'll keep you updated here too. Here is one last feature from our artifact case - we hope you catch the rest in person!  This is a tiny metal arrow point found at Blood Run in Lyon County. "Many Indians possessed and traded European manufactured goods long before they ever set eyes on a French explorer, so for them the historic period began before actual contact. New materials were introduced, such as glass and metals like iron, brass, and tin. These trade goods were obtained through middlemen, and later trading posts, and evidence of reuse and adaptation shows up in the archaeological record. These items were found at later Oneota sites (post A.D. 1650) in context with other typical “prehistoric” items such as stone tools and pottery."   

2 weeks until the launch of "Oneota Archaeological Connections" in the University of Iowa Mobile Museum! The first public event will be at the Mid-America Paleontology Society Expo at the Sharpless Auctions Facility in Iowa City. You can find these large orthoquartzite bifaces from Blood Run in Lyon County on exhibit. They're made from orthoquartzite and were found by collectors before being donated to the Keyes collection. It's possible the orthoquartzite is from a source in Nebraska.

Only three weeks until the launch of "Oneota Archaeological Connections" and the University of Iowa Mobile Museum 2017 exhibits! This is just one of the several fantastic Oneota pottery sherds on display through October. You can see the characteristic shell tempering and trailed lines of Oneota pottery, but also this unique circle motif! This motif is also repeated on the inside of the flared rim (see inset). It's estimated that the rim diameter of this vessel is about 38 cm, but the body diameter was much wider! It is thought to be a "feasting pot." This vessel is from the "Muscatine Island North End" or "Muscatine Island Village" site in Muscatine County and is part of the Keyes collection.

This object is a large elk antler tool from the Wever Terrace site in Lee County - both sides are pictured. The end (top edge in photo) is worked and highly polished. It possibly could have been some sort of scraping tool. The drilled hole, possibly for hafting, but we do not know for sure. This is an impressive artifact, we hope you get to see it in person!

Did you miss our 2014 uimobilemuseum exhibit on the Glenwood culture while it toured last year? Check out some of the highlights, including a photo slideshow and videos!